A First Heads Up: Some Sort Of Nasty Storm To Affect Vermont, Many Others Next Week

This is just one depiction of how an anticipated large
storm would look on weather maps next 
Wednesday morning. There are still TONS of 
scenarios with this future storm and things 
could end up much different than this map shows. 

 Meteorologists are already raising the alarm at least to some extent of a strong storm that will affect large swaths of the United States. 

The biggest concern is the risk of tornadoes and severe weather from the southern and central Plains, Midwest and Southeast.

It's too early to say exactly how the storm will evolve, so we don't quite know the extent and precise locations of the severe weather. But it could be widespread.

Before that happens, the storm is already creating a flood and wind threat in California over the weekend, and promises a snowstorm from the Sierra Nevada range and in parts of the Rockies. 

The storm's strong winds are prompting a renewed fire risk in and near the already hard hit Texas panhandle. 

We in Vermont won't have to worry about tornadoes with this thing, of course. But depending on the track of what will be a complex storm, we could see a lot of rain or even a lot of snow in a storm that at the moment looks like it will linger around us for at least three days. 

It'll be a fairly cold storm for this time of year, which raises that possibility of snow.  I'll emphasize right now that we don't yet know whether snow will just be an issue for the mountain tops, or whether it might hit mid-elevation towns or even valleys. 

We also don't know whether it would produce enough rain to set off any flooding. All we know is broad-brush stuff.  I guess this is just a heads up in case you were counting on fair weather during the middle of next week.

You ain't going to get it.

We'll know quite a bit more about how this storm will evolve by around Sunday. 

ECLIPSE EFFECTS?

Oddly a best case scenario would be if the storm slows down or stalls near New England or just off the coast for a few days.  Sure, that would keep us under an overcast, with gusty, cold winds and some rain and snow into the start of next weekend. You know, nearly a full week of crappy weather. 

But the timing would be such that it would move out just in time to clear skies by Monday, April 8, eclipse day.

That scenario at this point is just wishcasting on my part. Wishcasting, for the uninitiated, is forecasting weather that you want, and not necessarily the weather you're going to get.  

The reality is as of today nobody can give you an eclipse day forecast that would be any more accurate that the flip of a coin. We gotta wait.

NEXT UP

Before we get to next week's storm and the eclipse a week and a half or so from now, we have this weekend looming.

And the weather will be.....OK.

The storm system that soaked eastern New England yesterday is consolidating and blowing up in the Canadian Maritimes.

This will cause some stiff northwest winds later today through Saturday. The strongest winds might come tonight with gusts to 40 mph or so. Gusts will reach 30 to 35 mph today and Saturday.

That's not windy enough to cause any real problems. It'll just be a couple of bad days to rake leaves or wear hats outdoors, that's all.  Save your Easter bonnet for the actual holiday on Sunday when winds should be a little lighter. 

Often a weather setup like this would also make us unusually cold.  There might be some snow showers Saturday night and early Sunday morning, but they won't be a big deal. We'll have a mix of sun and clouds in general today through Sunday. 

The storm up in Canada isn't grabbing much cold air, so temperatures will be close to normal - 40s for most of us, with maybe a spot 50 in the warmest valleys, with lows in the 20s to low 30s.